Magnetic

Chapter Eleven

My father and I shared a constant, mutual love for one food: Mac and cheese.

We loved it so much, that we could eat it for every meal, and would probably ask for a bit more.

So for dinner, I was making macaroni and American cheese with bacon bits: his favorite. That morning, we had decided on it, and I had been craving it all day.

I was in the middle of chopping up some cooked bacon when the landline phone rang.

"Hello?" I said, trying the balance the phone between my shoulder and ear. It seemed like someone called me every time that I'd be cooking.

"Nicki? It's your father."

"Oh, hey! Dinner is going to be amazing. I'm in the middle of making our mac and cheese right now. The pasta is cooking and I'm cutting the bacon. Turkey bacon this time. I think it'll taste really g-"

"That's what I needed to talk to you about," he interrupted.

I slid all of the bacon bits into a small bowl and placed it beside the stove. "Yeah?"

"I won't be there for dinner. I'm sorry, I know you're working hard but I need to take a client out to eat. He will only invest in us if-"

"I understand," I said, not needing to hear anymore. There was nothing I could say to change his mind, so there was no need for me to even try. I placed the knife on the cutting board, wondering what I'll do with all the leftovers. We still had a bunch of chili from about a week ago.

"Again, I'm sorry. I'll call you when I'm on my way home." The phone clicked, signaling that he had hung up.

Unfortunately, that had been happening too often lately, just like a few years ago, when we had drifted so far apart. This morning, he'd promised me he would make time for us to each dinner together to make up for it. And of course, he broke his promise. I, foolishly, hadn't seen it coming.

I was about to call Gage to see if he'd want to come over and eat with me, but I remembered that he was going over to Nana's. So I dialed Paisley's number.

"Hey, Nicki!" Paisley greeted. "What's up?"

"I'm cooking some gourmet mac and cheese, and my father can't make dinner tonight. You want to come over?"

In the background, I could hear the sound of glass shattering and then demented screaming. "I want to more than you could ever imagine. But I'm stuck babysitting this demon child. AKA my niece. My brother and his wife are going out to dinner and offered me thirty bucks to watch her. Which is definitely not enough. I'm starting to fear for my own safety." At the child, she yelled, "Tiffany, if you do not sit down, you will be in time out for the rest of the night! Do you hear me?"

"Paisley? Are you okay?"

Tiffany screamed something inaudible. "Sorry, Nicki. I need to go. All hell is about to break loose. Pray for me."

Click.

There was only one person left for me to call, so I dialed their number, hoping that I wouldn't be eating dinner all alone again.

~~~

"Nice house," Brady said when I answered the door. He stuffed his hands in the front pockets of his jeans as he walked into the entryway.

"Thanks," I replied, leading the way to the kitchen.

Brady sniffed the air loudly and dramatically and rested his elbows on the island. "It smells amazing in here. When you told me that you were cooking, I was extremely wary."